Chapter 41.4- One Thousand Hands

The woman tried to break through the mud with a renewed bout of vigor and I thickened the mud even further before piling more of it atop her. Piandao pushed against the air he was standing atop and I was forced to dodge to the side as his blade stabbed into the mud near my feet. He moved back, taking his stance. He was standing only a few inches above the mud that I had turned our entire battlefield into and he did not look pleased.

“You have caused more harm than you will ever know, boy. I hope the gods forgive you in death” He said, clearly referring to the hundreds that laid dead at Shori’s hands. I felt Jinpei dispel himself. That meant that the Suna shinobi were done with. It also meant that I wouldn’t have to deal with my chakra being constantly drained to maintain his presence in this plane. I’d have to reverse summon myself to the Ocean sometime to thank him for the help, but that was a future concern.

I took a deep breath and covered my immediate surrounding in fire. A clone rose from the mud without a handseal and added his wind release to the flames. Piandao retreated while the woman was unable to do anything to escape the mud in time and it baked into clay that held her still- yup, she was dead. There was no chance of anything else. At least that was what I thought till she smashed out of the clay, visibly injured, but still spoiling for a fight. Wasteful. I allowed her get close, staying as still as possible before I activated my wind armour again with a snap. She tried to take my head off with a poor man’s lariat. I dodged underneath it, allowing her to pass me by as I slammed my wind release rasengan right into her back, before I released my grip on the jutsu. It sent her flying forwards a few metres before it exploded and atomised her.

Piandao tried to jump at me while I seemed distracted, but I’d already seen her coming. Uzume, moving faster than I’d ever seen, shot into him like a bullet from a gun and slammed him against one of the few trees that had survived our battle. He tried to shift his weight to bring his sword to bear but I could see the moment their eyes met. He went slack and then began to scream. Blood was flowing from his ears and eyes, and nose, and I looked at Uzume’s back, worried. She stepped away from him, and turned to look at me.

Had she always been this tall? I wondered before our eyes met and I froze. The mangekyou sharingan, I thought with my heart skipping multiple beats. Izuku, my mind instantly went to. She dove right at me, and I prepared myself for an attack, only for her arms to close around me in a hug of all things.